A Bad Break
by P.J. Lowry
Summary: Bruce Wayne has an unfortunate 'accident' that causes him to seek something that he rarely wants to ask for: the help of others...


Bruce Wayne sat in the confines of the cave, nursing a warm cup of tea with his leg elevated as per doctor's orders. According to the surgeon who put inserted the plate and pins, it was going to take at least a month or two for the fracture to heal. It was a recovery period that he clearly wasn't looking forward to. Through all his years as the Batman, he had to know it was something that was eventually going happen. Bruce wasn't indestructible after all so he couldn't always be Cal Ripken Jr., not in his line of work. Sooner or later he was going to get unlucky and have to log some time on the disabled list. He wasn't fortunate enough to have solar powered cells that provoked instant healing, which meant this caped crusader was going to be inactive for a couple of months, possibly longer depending on rehab. He didn't like being out of action, which meant the next month or two were going to be really rough. Bruce took another sip of his tea and then turned up the volume on the local news showing on the massive plasma screen in front of his console. It had started to mention something he was expecting, yet was dreading at the same time.

"In other news." the anchor started as he seemed to move on to more trivial matters. "Billionaire Bruce Wayne had a mishap while skiing over the weekend in Aspen, Colorado. With more on this story, we go to our reporter on the scene, Jenny Williams."

The picture changes to Jenny, who is wearing a pink winter jacket and hat to keep her warm. She smiles as the shoot starts. "Thanks Jim. I'm reporting from Denver General where Mr. Wayne was transported to and apparently under went surgery to repair what was a broken left leg. Authorities have told me that Mr. Wayne is doing all right and is expected to make a full recovery."

"Is Mr. Wayne expected to make any statements?" Jim asked the reporter.

Jenny shook her head, "I'm afraid not, Jim. At the moment the hospital has kept very tight security around Mr. Wayne. We've also been told that he's going to be transferred back to Gotham once cleared to fly."

Bruce had seen enough as he hit the mute button and looked at his leg that was wrapped up in a bright white cast. It started at his ankle and worked all the way up to the top of his thigh. It was a bad break, and it did require surgery to repair but that was the only part of the news story that was true. His fracture was more of an on the job incident and it was a careless mistake. While saving a family from a fire, he was propelled out of a window a little too hard by a gas explosion. He was carrying an eight year old girl down to safety and while making a last minute swing to save them both from falling, he slammed into the fire escape and the rail caused the fracture in his left leg. Better him than the little girl, Bruce thought to himself as he shifted to make himself more comfortable. Still, he never remembered being in so much pain in his life. It was a reckless slip-up but he was going to have a lot of time to think about it, more than he can handle. Bruce managed to make it back to the cave without giving away that he was injured and it cost a bundle to pay for the surgery to repair the damage and keep everything quiet. A few days later he leaked the fake Aspen story that it was the result of an accident on the ski slopes. It was a good cover story, and with certain members of the press in his pocket it was easy to get on the air.

As Bruce gave out a long, bored sigh, Alfred was walking into the cave with a snack. He had created a small platter of vegetables and dip along with another cup of tea for his patient. Bruce preferred coffee but since he couldn't get up to get it himself, and Alfred was limiting his daily dose. He was also taking advantage of Bruce's lack of mobility to put him on a strict diet, something his master didn't appreciate very much. Fact was Bruce could move about if he really had to, but the doctor's had ordered him to do as little movement as possible since it had been less than a week since his surgery. They had considered making a custom wheelchair for the cave, but Lucius still had some people working on something specific to fit the cave as its dimensions were hard to maneuver around. As the old butler placed the platter down on the table before him, he could sense the tension it the cave. The old man decided to start a little small talk to ease the situation. "Any messages from the league, Master Wayne?"

"Of course." Bruce said as he hit a button on the console in front of him.

The console logging into his answering service and since he wasn't in the mood to take any calls he had several messages in the system. A voice came from the console as is sparked to life. _"You have six new messages..."_

_"Message One: Beep! Hey there Bruce, it's Clark. Just checking up to see how you're doing. I know it's really tough to be out of the action but I'm going to drop in and check on you later when things slow down here in the city. Take it easy and don't rush your recovery. We got you covered."_

_"Message Two: Beep! Bruce, Oliver here. I've been working on a new gadget for an arrow I think you're going to really like. I've hit a snag in the production and I was wondering if you could to go over the schematics of it see if you can find what might be holding this bad boy from going into the quiver. Blueprints are in your e-mail. See you in two weeks."_

_"Message Three: Beep! Hey, Bats! It's Wally! I was wondering if I you wanted me and John to zip on over there and hang out. We could watch a movie or something, or play some monopoly. We'd get Geeves there to whip up something cool to eat and we'll have a blast! Get back to me bud and hope you're feeling all right!"_

_"Message Four: Beep! Hello Bruce, it's Diane…"_

Bruce hit the button on the console to stop the messages. His point had been made but he could see a worried look on Alfred's face. "Something wrong, Alfred?"

"Just the knowledge that Master Wally might make an appearance is enough to send chills through the cooking staff." Alfred said, "That boy almost ate the entire manor out the last time he was here. Never in my days here have I ever seen the cupboards so bare."

"Well, he'll be making more than an appearance." Bruce said as he ate one of the veggies from the tray. "Late next month it will be Wally's turn to wear the cowl for three whole weeks."

"Three weeks?" Alfred repeated in shock as this was the first he was hearing of it. "Do you realize how much we'll be spending in groceries alone to keep this place stocked up while he's here? That kid eats more than the entire staff does times four. I once watched him consume an entire box of cereal along with a gallon of milk just for breakfast. He ate it out of my salad bowl!"

Bruce could tell Alfred was serious but he was fighting to keep a straight face. "Alfred, if he's going to help us keep Gotham safe while I'm out of commission… feeding him is the least we can do regardless of how fast that little bugger can pack it away."

"You remember you said that." Alfred said as he walked away from the platform and back to the elevator to return to the manor.

Bruce paused for a moment, "A whole box?"

"In less than two minutes!" Alfred called before the elevator disappeared.

"Two minutes?" Bruce mumbled to himself and then he shrugged it off and started to file through police reports and keep himself busy. A little over an hour later the Batmobile returned, rumbling back into the cave before coming to a stop in its usual spot. Bruce could tell from his platform there were a few scratches and dents, but nothing to get visibly upset about. A second later, the Batman emerged from the vehicle and started to make his way up to the platform. Bruce called down to him, "How was your night?"

"It was brutal." the caped crusader called back as he slowly walked up the stairs. He seemed to be carrying something but Bruce couldn't tell what it was.

"I noticed. At least everyone didn't get away tonight." Bruce replied as he grabbed the remote from the table and turned the plasma screen back on. He turned on part of the new broadcast that he had earlier recorded, "but there are a few things we need to go over."

Batman made it to the top of the stairs and put a small box down on one of the tables on the platform. "Such as?"

"First of all, Batman doesn't make press statements." Bruce pointed the remote to the screen and pressed play.

The feed showed a reporter who standing beside Batman and in the background was the Penguin was being stuffed into a squad car while squawking loudly. The reporter turned to Batman, "That was an amazing feat we just witnessed, Batman. You actually swam over three hundred meters catch up to the penguin's skido. I've never seen anyone swim that fast, not even at the Olympic Games! How did you do that?"

The Batman casually responded in a deep voice. "Truth is, I have special boots that made the difference. It's all about brains, not brawn."

Bruce turned off the television and looked back as the Batman was doing his best to keep a straight face. "Special boots?" Bruce repeated as he made an awkward face. "Now I have to make special boots that make me swim faster?"

The Batman removed his cowl, to reveal a small mass of golden curly blonde hair that went down to his shoulders. "Hey, it's not like you don't have enough spare time on your hands to work things out." he playfully said with a smile.

"Shut up, Arthur." Bruce said as tossed the remote onto the table and rubbed his eyes in frustration. Arthur took the entire rubber suit off and before Bruce could say any thing else, he jumped off the platform and into the water at the bottom of the cave and disappeared. Bruce wanted to talk to Arthur a little more, but this was a part of his routine and he had to wait for him to come back up. As he was waiting for Arthur to return to the surface, Bruce noticed a box that was on the other side of the platform. It was too far away for him to reach but it didn't take a detective to realize his caped substitute had brought a pizza back to the cave. He had made up for his blunders by bringing in some take out to make up for Alfred's insane crash diet. Moments later, Arthur came back out of the water and started to dry himself off. As he was coming up the stairs to the main platform, Bruce pointed to the pizza box in the corner. "I hope you plan to share some of that with me."

"Sure, if you're into what I like." He said as he opened the box.

Bruce took a glance and quickly discovered what he was talking about. Inside the box was indeed a pizza, but it was covered in feta cheese and a double order of anchovies. He looked back at Arthur with a confused look on his face. "No offence Aquaman, but doesn't this qualify as cannibalism?"

"Tell that to a shark, it's survival of the fittest." Arthur said he quickly grabbed a large slice and chomped right into it.

"Extreme Darwinism at work, I see." Bruce said as he passed on the pizza and tried his best to endure the odor. He took a moment to compose himself. "What I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't talk to the media and unless it's absolutely necessary, try not to use your powers. All right?"

Aquaman paused for a moment, "Okay, I'm sorry about that. I was already having a really bad night with my earlier blunders and I just didn't want the Penguin to get away too."

"I understand." Bruce said as he folded his arms and sighed, "Truth is I should be thanking you. Not only are you doing this for me, you're doing this for the people of Gotham. The criminals would have a field day if they knew Batman was out of commission. I know it's not easy putting that mask on and being someone else. Truth is crime is actually down this week, and that's impressive."

"Man, I have to tell ya." Aquaman said as he kept munching on the pizza, "I don't know how you do it. You don't even have any superpowers and yet you patrol that city every night. I have powers and I could barely catch a little over half the bad guys who crossed my path. I was pretty bad tonight. How could they not know it was me instead of you?"

"Let's just hope they come to the conclusion that even Batman has a bad day every now and then."

"More like a bad week." Aquaman said in agreement.

Bruce padded Arthur on the shoulder. "You're getting better and that's what counts. Try to get as much rest as you can. We are going to do a bit of training before you go back out tomorrow night." Bruce tried not to be too hard on Arthur because he was after doing most of his training while on the job. He came in with very little if any notice and had little or no time to get ready to take over the role of the Bat. He had offered Arthur any guest room in the manor to sleep, but fish boy preferred to sleep in the water underneath the cave. Made him feel at home and his powers regenerated when he was under the water so it was best for him that way. He wasn't used to having someone in the cave 24/7 but it was something that he'd have to handle at least for a little while. Bruce tapped a button on the console. "Alfred, I'm ready to come back up to the Manor and I could use a little help."

"I'll be right down, Master Wayne."

Arthur finished eating about half the pizza and he tossed the box back on the counter. "I'll see you tomorrow." He jumped back into the water and was gone.

While he waited for Alfred to help him leave the cave, Bruce took the few moments he had to type a quick e-mail and send it out into cyber space. He was curious about how it was going to be received the next morning but like the problem he was delegating, it was no longer his concern.

_To: Lucius Fox  
From: Bruce Wayne_

_Subject: special request_

_I need you to construct new boots that allow me to swim faster._

_I'm not kidding._

_Bruce_


End file.
